


Big Brother - The Starving Artists Edition

by whoknows



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Glam Rock RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 14:19:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1691363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoknows/pseuds/whoknows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Big Brother AU from 2010.</p>
<p>They’re doing a pretty good job getting people across, and when it’s Tommy’s turn he puts a hand on Adam’s shoulder and steps up onto his thigh.<br/>His first try doesn’t work and he ends up slipping before he’s even halfway across. Swearing, he makes his way back and gets ready for a second attempt, trying to ignore the fact that he’s covered in mustard.</p>
<p>This time he hoists himself up onto Terrence’s thigh – the guy is pretty strong – and jumps for it.</p>
<p>At the last second, he feels hands on his ass, but they’re not really pushing him forward. They’re – coping a feel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Big Brother - The Starving Artists Edition

**Author's Note:**

> So way back in 2010 and possibly 2011 I filled some Adam/Tommy prompts anonymously for various kinkmemes. Now that I have AO3 I decided that I may as well put them all in the same place so I will be uploading them all to this username.
> 
> This was originally prompted [here](http://community.livejournal.com/aianonlovefest/6425.html?thread=7169305#t7169305) but not filled until later [here](http://aianonlovefest.livejournal.com/10673.html?thread=7341745#t7341745) as I didn't finish it in time.

“The first group of houseguests to enter the Big Brother house is Brooke, Cassidy and Kris,” Julie says to the camera, smile on her face.

Tommy tries not to fidget while he waits for his name to be called. These are the people that he’s stuck spending the rest of the summer with, and while most of them don’t look too bad – there are a lot more tattoos and brightly coloured hair than he thought there would be – he’s still not entirely sure how he got talked into this.

“Next up are Monte, Allison, Brad and Taylor,” Julie says. “Remember, there are only thirteen beds and fourteen houseguests, so time is of the essence.” 

Tommy shifts and thinks about being stuck sleeping on the floor for a week. He’s slept in worse places before, and it’ll be clean, which is definitely an improvement over his last place.

That doesn’t mean he actually wants to sleep on the floor. “Okay, Katy, Brad, Tommy and Orianthi, you’re up,” Julie says, smiling at the audience. Tommy grabs his bag and heads into the house, intent on finding a bed. 

Any bed will do, but the first one that he finds is in a pink room, and the other two beds are already taken – one by the girl with the awesome hair and the other by some guy.

Tommy shrugs to himself and throws his bag down on the free bed. A few more people wander in and out, looking for beds, but it’s not until they all get called into the living room that he figures out who’s sleeping on the floor.

“How’s everyone settling in?” Julie asks. There’s a chorus of ‘good’s, and Julie directs her attention to the tall guy with crazy black hair. “So you’re the one without a bed this week, Adam?” she asks, and the guy shrugs and laughs.

“Yeah, looks like,” he says. “Unless I can convince someone to share, that is.”

“Good luck,” Julie says, and Tommy wonders, not for the first time, how she managed to convince her husband to let her host eleven seasons of this show. Her delivery and tone leave a lot to be desired. “I’ll leave you to get to know each other. Good night, houseguests.”

 

It turns out that the girl with the awesome hair’s name is Allison, and she’s a total bleeding heart. She lets Adam sleep in her bed with her, and Tommy would mourn the loss of the peaceful sleeping potential, but they sleep back to back, and neither of them seem particularly interested in each other aside from as friends.

Tommy doesn’t really get to know either of them until the first HoH competition and all three of them end up on the same team.

“Seriously?” Allison asks, looking at the hotdog that they’re supposed to ride to the other side of the backyard. “I can’t even reach that thing, how am I supposed to get on it?”

“I think we might have a problem,” Adam says, surveying their team as Sasha cranks the thing over. He’s got a point – the other team doesn’t really have an advantage over them, but there are a distressing number of short people in this competition.

“I think I might need a boost,” Allison says, looking at the hotdog uncertainly. 

“Yeah, I think that might work,” Adam answers, and between him and Terrence they get a pretty steady rhythm going, sending Allison over first, then Orianthi, then Kris.

Adam can’t stop laughing when they pick up Kris, though. “You’re so tiny!” he exclaims, and they practically hurl him at the hotdog.

They’re doing a pretty good job getting people across, and when it’s Tommy’s turn he puts a hand on Adam’s shoulder and steps up onto his thigh.  
His first try doesn’t work and he ends up slipping before he’s even halfway across. Swearing, he makes his way back and gets ready for a second attempt, trying to ignore the fact that he’s covered in mustard.

This time he hoists himself up onto Terrence’s thigh – the guy is pretty strong – and jumps for it.

At the last second, he feels hands on his ass, but they’re not really pushing him forward. They’re – coping a feel?

He doesn’t have time to look back until he’s across, and by then Adam and Terrence are watching Sasha launch herself at the hotdog, identical looks of admiration on their faces.

They win, but it’s not by much. Adam’s the last person to cross, which makes him HoH. Everyone on their team celebrates, because it’s a pretty good guess that he’s not gonna put any of them up for eviction.

And then they go back to hanging out and getting to know each other, and Tommy wonders about the hand on his ass.

 

They all follow Adam up to HoH room when it’s ready. While everyone’s cooing over the stuff Adam got, Tommy eyes the bed and thinks about collapsing onto it. It looks soft and warm and so fucking inviting – so much better than the beds downstairs.

He sorta just … drifts over there and sits down on the edge. Then he migrates up until he’s lying down, and then he closes his eyes, just for a second.

When he wakes up, the room’s dark and someone’s in the bed with him. It’s Adam, obviously, and Tommy just lies there, blinking at the ceiling. When he wakes up enough to think properly, he wonders why no one woke him up so he could sleep in his own bed.

Not that this bed isn’t awesome, it totally is. It’s just a little weird waking up next to a guy he barely knows.

He makes up his mind, rolls out of the bed, shuffles down to his own, and absolutely doesn’t mourn the loss.

 

Adam doesn’t say anything about it. Tommy gets _looks_ from everyone else the rest of the day, but Adam goes about his business like it never happened.

Tommy wonders about that for a while, but eventually he gives up and heads out to swim in the pool.

The pool is probably the best part of the entire competition. He’s not a real big swimmer, but it’s not like there’s anything else to do, so he strips off his shirt, puts some sunscreen on, and floats for a while.

He’s conscious of the fact that people are coming and going, but it isn’t until he gets out of the pool half an hour later that he realizes Adam’s lying in the hammock with Allison, and by the looks of it, ogling him.

He flushes and pulls his shirt on, but he’s still wet so all it does is cling to his body. It feels like the beginning of bad porn, so he heads inside to shower.

He’s relatively sure that Adam’s eyes are on his ass the entire time.

 

“So tell me why I shouldn’t nominate you for eviction,” Adam says, lacing his fingers behind his head and leaning back. Tommy shrugs, picking at the fading nail polish on his thumb.

“Because you think I’m pretty,” he says. Adam makes a sound in the back of his throat, and Allison cracks up, practically rolling off the bed. The two of them have been pretty close the past few days, sticking together most of the time.

“I also think that Kris is pretty, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to nominate him,” Adam points out.

Tommy frowns. “I’m pretty sure Kris is lying about something,” he says. He makes his way over to the bed and squirms between them, planting his face into a pillow.

“We’re trying to talk strategy here and you’re going to pass out?” Adam asks. Tommy waves a hand vaguely and turns his head enough to breathe. 

“You guys talk strategy. I’ll be here, taking a nap.”

“You’re like, the most boring contestant ever,” Allison says, pinching his side. Tommy yelps and rolls away from her, right into Adam.

“Protect me,” he says into Adam’s side. Adam puts a hand on his head and scratches him a little. Tommy arches into the touch and decides that he actually is going to take a nap. It’s _nice_ in Adam’s bed, he can’t let this opportunity pass him by.

He wakes up in the middle of the night again with Adam pressed up against his back. Allison’s still in the bed, but she’s far enough away that none of their body parts are touching.

He looks over his shoulder, and sure enough, Adam has enough room that he doesn’t actually have to be all up in his space.

He lies there for a few more minutes before the urge to piss becomes insistent, and then starts to extract himself from underneath Adam’s arm.

Adam shifts and tightens his arm. “Where’re you going?” he murmurs, and he sounds like he’s still half asleep.

“Bathroom,” Tommy answers, trying to tug Adam’s arm off of his stomach.

“Okay, just,” he moves his hand to Tommy’s jaw and leans over him enough to kiss him.

On the mouth.

Tommy stays slack for it, too surprised to really do anything else. By the time he gets over his shock, Adam’s already moved back.

“Don’t be gone too long,” he says, already falling back asleep. Tommy blinks at him for a minute before he heaves himself up.

He knew this game would be weird – he just never saw this coming.

 

“Would you keep still already?” Brad demands, wrenching Adam’s foot back into his lap. Tommy very determinedly doesn’t look at them. He’s perfectly fine where he is, sprawled out across the grass.

“It tickles,” Adam protests, wiggling his toes in the sun.

“Mm,” Brad says, strokes neat and steady over Adam’s toenails. 

“It looks cool,” Kris offers. Adam turns his head and smiles over at Kris, and Tommy rolls his eyes to himself. He’s not jealous, it’s just sickening how boys fawn over Adam like he’s some kind of god or something.

Most of it is just because they don’t want to get nominated for eviction, but some of it is because they’re flirting with him.

Tommy rolls over in the grass so his stomach doesn’t burn and pouts into the grass for a minute, until Allison jumps onto his back and makes him play some stupid game with her.

 

He heads to bed early that night, mostly because there’s nothing else to do, and he’s half asleep when Adam comes in and flicks on the light.

“What’re you doing?” he asks, and Tommy thinks he’s talking to someone else until his hand lands on his shoulder.

“Sleeping,” Tommy mumbles, pulling the sheet up higher. Adam shakes his shoulder a little.

“No, c’mon, my bed is so empty,” he says, and grabs Tommy’s arms to try to drag him out of the bed. After a couple minutes of tugging, Tommy gives in and lets him haul him up and lead him up the stairs.

He faceplants into the bed before Adam even gets the door closed. “That’s pretty,” Adam says, more to himself than anything. Tommy flips him off half-heartedly and doesn’t even bother with the blankets.

Adam turns the lights off and spreads himself out over Tommy’s back. “What’re you doing,” Tommy asks flatly. Adam makes a sound against the back of Tommy’s neck and doesn’t answer. 

“Seriously,” Tommy says after a minute. “Unless you’re planning on doing something there, you’re gonna have to move before I suffocate.”

“I realized something today,” Adam says conversationally. He’s a warm, heavy weight on top of Tommy, but it’s not actually hard to breathe, so Tommy doesn’t shove him off.

For the moment, anyway. “What?” Tommy asks impatiently.

“Everyone thinks that you, me and Allison have an alliance.” 

Tommy grunts into the mattress. “Let them think whatever they want,” he says. 

“Yeah, but if they think we already have an alliance, we might as well actually have one,” Adam says, moving Tommy’s hair off the back of his neck and breathing against it like a creeper.

“Shut up and go to sleep already,” Tommy says. Adam nuzzles the back of his neck one more time and rolls off, presumably to follow his order.

 

Tommy’s just standing at the sink the next day doing the dishes when somebody comes up behind him and wraps their arms around his waist.

Tommy’s hands still in the water, and for a second he contemplates shoving back with his elbow, but it’s not really worth it, especially not when he knows it’s just Adam.

“You wanna come upstairs?” Adam asks, low and right in his ear.  
“Didn’t I put out enough yesterday?” Tommy asks, rinsing soap off of a plate. He doesn’t realize that it’s kind of loud until he looks up and sees identical looks of shock on Taylor and Kris’ faces.

“Don’t worry, Allison’s up there too,” Adam says cheerfully, either choosing to ignore the looks or genuinely not seeing them.

“So it’s a threesome?” Taylor asks. 

“No, I’ve got enough ass right here,” Adam says, patting said ass. Tommy does elbow him this time, nudging him back a step.

“I’m kind of busy here,” Tommy says, scrubbing a pan. He has no idea how it got so dirty – it’s not like any of them really cook anything, so this is just ridiculous.

“Kris can finish these,” Adam says brightly. “Right Kris?”

“Uh,” Kris says. Adam pulls Tommy’s hands out of the water and dries them on a dish towel.

“Thanks,” Adam says, tangling their fingers together and practically dragging Tommy away. Tommy makes a face over Adam’s shoulder and waves a hand at Kris – as an apology or a thank you, whichever he decides to take it as.

“So what do you want?” Tommy asks when Adam closes the door. He wipes his hands on his jeans, trying to get the moisture out from in between his fingers.

“We need to decide who we’re putting up for eviction,” Adam says, flopping onto the bed and flinging an arm over his face.

“And you’re asking me because,” Tommy trails off. Allison pats the space beside her on the bed.

“Because we’re a team,” Allison says cheerfully, beaming at him.

“I don’t know, Sasha and Cassidy,” Tommy says, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“What? Why?” Adam asks, laughing and batting Allison’s hands away from his side.

Tommy shrugs and picks at the nail polish on his thumb. It’s really starting to chip, he’s going to have to re-do it soon. Maybe Adam’ll do it for him. “Sasha’s fucking fierce,” he says.

Adam makes a thoughtful sound. “That’s true. But why Cassidy?”

“He’s sneaky,” Tommy says. Adam and Allison both laugh a little, so Tommy sits up straighter to defend himself. “He is,” he insists. “The other day he was following me around for like fifteen minutes and I didn’t even notice.”

“Maybe he just needed to be the places you were going,” Allison says. Tommy makes a face and collapses onto his back, wriggling up until his head’s at the top of the bed. It might be true, but Tommy likes his idea better.

“So who do you want to put up?” Tommy asks, snagging a pillow off the top of his bed and dragging it down underneath his shoulder.

Allison pulls at a loose thread on the comforter. “Well, it seems like Brad, Cassidy and Terrence hang out together a lot, so we’re thinking they could have an alliance.”

“Sasha hangs out a lot with Brooke, Taylor and Orianthi, too, though,” Adam says, putting his hand on the top of Tommy’s head absently. “So if we’re going with that line of reasoning we’ve got two main alliances, right?”

“Right,” Allison agrees, shoving her feet across Tommy’s lap.

“So which is more powerful?” Adam asks, and tugs on Tommy’s hair when neither of them give him an answer in an appropriate period of time.

“Ow, Jesus, I don’t know. If we’re looking at numbers, obviously Sasha’s,” Tommy says, rubbing his scalp.

“And power wise?” Adam asks.

“Equal? I don’t know,” Tommy says, a little frustrated. He has no clue what they should do, and Adam’s pushing isn’t gonna give him any ideas.

“So Sasha and Cassidy are the leaders?” Adam asks. Tommy shrugs before he can pull his hair again.

“Maybe we should put up two floaters,” Allison says suddenly. “That way we won’t have an alliance breathing down our backs next week, and people are less likely to come after us. And if one of them gets the veto use the opportunity to backdoor Sasha or Cassidy.”

“I knew there was a reason we keep you around,” Adam says, leaning across Tommy to hug Allison. 

“Sleep time,” Tommy says from underneath Adam’s arm, not even bothering to wiggle out.

“Tommy, tell us about your relationship with Adam,” Julie says. Tommy shifts on the sofa in the diary room and spreads his hands out a little.

“He likes to kiss me sometimes,” Tommy says helplessly. He doesn’t really know what else to say about it – it’s not like he has any idea what he’s doing.

It’s not like he expected this.

“The two of you haven’t spent a night apart since Adam won HoH,” Julie says. 

Tommy smiles at the camera. “I get cold easily,” he says, and it’s not even a lie. He does get cold easily, and the way that Adam seems to know when he’s getting cold is awesome because he always wraps an arm around him.

“What about your alliance?” 

Tommy laughs. “That kind of just happened. I mean, I went in with the intention of finding one, but this wasn’t intentional. Adam just clicked with Allison right away, and I think he thought I was pretty or something and he wanted an excuse to touch me, so.”

“Well, we’ll see you next time, Tommy,” Julie says. Tommy heaves himself up and wanders back into the living room to see what Allison’s doing.

 

“Okay, guys, it’s time for the nomination ceremony,” Adam says, and everyone gathers around the table. “As you all know, it’s part of my duties as head of household to nominate two people for eviction this week.”

He pulls the first key out. “Tommy, you’re safe.” Tommy tries not to roll his eyes as he stands up, because seriously, Adam could at least have put them in a different order, shake things up a bit.

“Thanks,” he says dutifully. “Allison, you’re safe.” The names go on, and Adam stands up at the end and clasps his hands together.

“So, as you can see, I’ve nominated Monte and Cam for eviction this week. The nominations definitely aren’t personal, but you guys are both strong competitors, and this is purely a strategic move.” He smiles hopefully at the two of them. “The nomination ceremony is adjourned.”

 

Tommy adjusts his sunglasses on his face and tries not to glare in Adam’s direction from his spot on the grass. He thinks he’s probably not successful, because Adam’s smile only widens, and he tucks Kris in closer to him.

He’s practically pulling Kris into his lap, and Tommy resolutely closes his eyes. He doesn’t give a shit what Adam does. Just because they have an alliance doesn’t mean that they have to spend every waking moment together, and Tommy’s perfectly fine by himself.

The sound of their laughter reaches him, though, and he makes a face to himself. He’s trying to ignore it, but they just keep getting louder and louder, so Tommy stands up, yanking his towel up with him. He can relax inside just as well as he can relax outside, and with that thought in mind he goes and curls up on his own bed.

He doesn’t know how long he lies there for, but when he eventually gets up to grab some food, neither Adam nor Kris are anywhere to be seen. He eats quickly, ready to call it a day, and then heads back to his bed.

He dozes for a while before Adam’s shaking his shoulder gently, trying to get him up. “Fuck off,” Tommy mumbles, rolling away from Adam’s hand to the edge of the mattress.

Adam doesn’t reach for him again. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asks quietly. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m not sick,” Tommy says, pulling the blanket up around his shoulders. Adam’s hand settles tentatively onto his shoulder, but there’s really nowhere for him to go, so he just stays there, keeping his muscles tense. 

“We can sleep here if you want,” Adam says uncertainly, rubbing Tommy’s shoulder. “I mean, the bed’s not as big, but I’m sure we can fit.” 

Tommy laughs, turning his head into the pillow. Adam stops rubbing his shoulder and slides his hand down Tommy’s arm to his stomach. “Are you mad at me?” Adam asks, pulling Tommy’s shirt up and settling his palm against bare skin.

“No,” Tommy says shortly, trying to ignore the way Adam’s hand feels on his skin. 

“Okay,” Adam says, and then lies down behind Tommy, slow enough that Tommy could say something.

He doesn’t.  
They lie there in silence for a few minutes, until Adam shifts. “The bed upstairs spoiled me,” he says, sighing. 

“So go upstairs,” Tommy mutters. Adam’s hand smoothes over his skin, pretty much petting him.

“I’m not going to go upstairs without you,” he says. “Seriously, are we fighting? It feels like we’re fighting.” 

“We’re not fucking fighting,” Tommy snaps. Adam pulls his hand off of Tommy’s skin and sits up.

“Well, if we’re not fighting then why are we down here?”

Tommy snorts. “ _I’m_ down here because I’m trying to sleep. I have no idea why you’re down here.”

Adam sighs. “Can we at least fight upstairs?” he asks. “Someone’s gonna wanna sleep in here eventually.”

“We’re not fighting,” Tommy says, back still to Adam. He’s being irrational, he knows, but he thinks he’s entitled to it. It’s been two weeks of isolation in this house, and okay, he doesn’t really like people that much, but it still sucks.

“If we’re not fighting why are you being such a bitch?” 

Tommy rolls over and glares up at Adam. “I’m not being a bitch,” he says. Adam raises an incredulous eyebrow at him.

“I tried to kiss you like five times today and you just turned away,” he says. He looks like he can’t decide whether he wants to smile or frown and ends up pressing his lips together.

“Maybe I just don’t want to be kissed with everyone watching,” Tommy says. 

Adam looks at him for a minute. “Okay,” he says, and leans down. 

Tommy turns his head, and Adam’s mouth lands on his cheek. “See, we are fighting!” Adam exclaims. 

“So if I don’t let you kiss me we’re automatically fighting?” Tommy asks. 

“Uh, yeah,” Adam says. 

Tommy sighs. “Fine then, kiss me,” he says, monotone. For a second he thinks that Adam’s going to refuse, just on principle, but then Adam leans down again and kisses him.

He’s got an elbow planted in the mattress beside Tommy’s head, and this kiss is different from all the others. It’s soft – and okay, the other ones have been soft, too, but the other ones didn’t actually involve Adam’s tongue in his mouth.

Distantly, he thinks that Adam needs to shave, but the thought gets lost when Adam’s hand slides into his hair and holds his head still.

After that, it’s easy to relax and let Adam take control. Adam nudges him over a little more, until he’s entirely on his back, and then settles down over him. Tommy’s thighs spread for him easy as breathing, and Adam’s hips settle in between them.

Adam angles his head a little more, and the kiss turns deep, just like that. After a couple minutes, Adam’s hips start rocking gently, pushing up into Tommy. 

Tommy makes a sound into Adam’s mouth and tucks his fingers into the front of Adam’s jeans, almost unconsciously. “Yeah,” Adam says, pulling his mouth away from Tommy’s for just a second. Tommy’s hand slides to the button on Adam’s jeans and pops it, goes for the zipper.

And that’s when the lights snap on.

“Now _that’s_ a pretty picture,” Brad drawls, amusement colouring his voice. Adam stills on top of him, and then rolls off a second later.

“And this is why I wanted to go upstairs,” he says, rubbing a hand over his face. He buttons his jeans and sits up.

“Oh, don’t stop on my account,” Brad says, waving a hand at him. “I’ll just be here in my corner, watching, along with everyone else in America.” Adam laughs, helplessly, and Tommy rubs a hand across his back.

“Yeah, goodnight to you, too,” Adam says, standing up. He leaves the room without another word, and Tommy puts an arm over his face.

After a minute, Brad sighs. “Oh, honey, what are you still doing here?”

Tommy laughs. “I think we’re fighting,” he says to the ceiling.

“Be that as it may, you’re missing out on some prime cock right now,” Brad tells him. Tommy rolls over onto his side, away from him, and Brad sighs even louder. “Such a diva,” he says, and then there’s the sound of his footsteps leaving the room.

Tommy lies awake most of the night.

They spend the next day avoiding each other, and Monte wins the veto competition. He uses it on himself, obviously, and Adam puts up Cassidy in her place.

Tommy hangs out with Allison the rest of the time, feeling a lot resentful of the time Adam’s spending time with Kris, not even looking at him. 

That night, Tommy curls up in his bed alone and absolutely doesn’t wish Adam would come in.

And even if he does, it doesn’t come true.

 

They last half a day more before Adam comes down from the HoH room, looking tired and determined, crosses the floor in four giant steps, grabs Tommy’s face in between his hands, and kisses him.

Brad and Allison whoop from behind him, and Tommy grabs onto Adam’s arms to keep from falling over.

“What are you doing?” Tommy asks when Adam pulls away.

Adam smiles hopefully at him. “Apologizing, I think,” he answers.

Tommy stares at him. “Apologizing usually involves words,” he says eventually. Adam’s smile falters.

“Yeah, except for the part where I have no idea what I’m actually apologizing for,” Adam says.

Tommy chews his lip for a second, but before he can say anything, Adam sighs. “Okay, I’m sorry for whatever I did. Do you forgive me yet?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Tommy says, shrugging. He pretty much has to agree, considering that they’re ultimately fighting over nothing and if he doesn’t he’s going to look like a douche in front of millions of people.

Adam kisses him again, sweeter this time, and pulls away before it can get too far. “Don’t think I don’t realize that this fight was because you were pouting about me spending time with Kris,” he calls over his shoulder as he heads back upstairs.

“Busted,” Allison cackles. Tommy flips her off over his shoulder and heads outside.

 

The eviction ceremony ends with Cassidy evicted 7-4. They watch him go, and when it’s over, Adam collapses next to Tommy on the couch and puts an arm around his shoulders.

“Fuck, I’m so glad that’s over,” he says with feeling. Tommy wiggles his toes, flexing them in the carpet. On one hand, he’s glad it’s over, but on the other, now they have to compete for HoH again, and if neither him or Allison wins, they might have a problem.

“Okay, c’mon, let’s take advantage of the last day we have that bed guaranteed,” Adam says, heaving himself up. He offers a hand to Tommy, yanking him up easily when he accepts it.

 

Allison wins the HoH competition, and Adam immediately grabs her, picking her up and swinging her around.

It’s a relief, knowing that the three of them are safe for another week.

 

It sucks, being a have not. The slop is one thing, but the bed situation is terrible. It’s a fucking mission trying to fit two grown men into a sleeping bag on a metal cot. The only way it works is if Tommy goes in first and lets Adam zip them into the sleeping bag together.

Adam doesn’t even have to do it, considering that he’s a have for the week, and with Cassidy gone there’s a bed for him.

He still does it, and Tommy doesn’t question it. He’s pretty sure that questioning it would just get him a sappy answer and half smothered, so he leaves it alone. 

“You better not suck so much next week,” Adam says into his hair, shifting behind him. He heaves an aggravated sigh and pushes Tommy forward a bit, gaining himself a little more room. “You’re lucky you’re so tiny, otherwise we’d have to sleep on the floor.”

“I hope _you_ suck next week and end up a have not,” Tommy mutters. 

Adam laughs and squeezes him around the waist. “Fuck, I wish there was enough room to kiss you,” he says. 

“You always wish there was enough room to kiss him,” Brad says, making exaggerated kissing noises in the dark. 

“You should’ve put him up for eviction when you had the chance,” Tommy says loudly. 

Brad laughs. “Yeah, but then who would be around to objectify the two of you and jerk off to the images later?” he asks brightly. Adam starts laughing, the sound muffled by Tommy’s hair.

“Millions of Americans?” Tommy suggests. Brad makes a dismissive noise.

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t be able to _see_ that,” he says. Adam rubs a hand over Tommy’s stomach.  
“I kind of wish we asked him to be in our alliance,” he says. 

Brad sighs. “Mm, yeah, that would be nice,” he says dreamily. 

There’s a minute of silence. “You know I was talking about our actual alliance, right?” Adam asks.

Tommy snickers into the pillow. “Oh. Well, I guess that would’ve been nice too,” Brad says. Adam yanks the pillow out from under Tommy’s head and throws it in Brad’s general direction.

“Now my neck’s gonna hurt in the morning,” Tommy complains. Adam puts his arm under Tommy’s head, getting them even closer together.

“Aw, is he taking care of you? I bet he’s taking care of you, he’s such a top,” Brad says. 

“Goodnight, Brad,” Adam says loudly, effectively ending the conversation.

 

Allison puts up Terrence and Sasha for eviction, using the logic that they’re both really strong competitors. When Sasha wins the veto competition, Allison puts Brooke up, and at the eviction ceremony, Terrence gets sent home. 

Afterwards, they go back to the HoH room and Allison collapses onto the bed. “That was intense,” she says, eyes wide. Adam makes an agreeing noise and sits on the edge of the bed next to her, holding a hand out to Tommy. Tommy ignores it and flops down a foot away.

“It’s your turn now, Tommy,” she says. Tommy laughs into the bedspread, grateful for the fact that he’s lying face down, because he doesn’t know if he can actually win a competition, and he’s pretty sure that’s written all over his face.

“I’ll do my best,” he says, the words muffled. They sit there for a few more minutes, and Adam and Allison talk for a bit, but Allison eventually kicks them out.

They head back downstairs and Tommy crawls into the sleeping bag, waiting for Adam to wriggle in behind him. 

He’s still waiting a few minutes later, so he sits up and looks around the room. Adam’s nowhere to be seen. “Adam?” he calls, not even really sure why he’s doing it. He doesn’t need Adam to be able to sleep.

It will be easier if he’s not half-asleep when Adam comes to bed, though. “Yeah?” Adam asks, appearing in the doorway. Tommy frowns at him.

“What are you doing?” Adam leans an arm against the door frame and holds up a hand with a cup in it.

“Just getting a drink,” he says. Tommy lies back down and tugs the sleeping bag over himself. “Why? You need something?” Adam crosses the room and sits on the side of the cot.

“No, I’m good,” Tommy says, and lets Adam adjust the sleeping bag over him. Adam finishes whatever he’s drinking and stands up again.

“I’ll be back in a couple minutes,” he says, gesturing towards the kitchen with the mug. Tommy nods, and Adam disappears.

He takes a while to come back, while Tommy lies there, wondering what’s taking so long and contemplating getting up to find out. He doesn’t, obviously, and when Adam comes back he raises an eyebrow at him.

“Kris was still up and we started talking a little,” Adam explains, sitting on the edge of the cot again.

“About what?” Tommy asks. Adam lies down and zips the sleeping bag up.

“He did some missionary work in Thailand, he was just reminiscing about it,” Adam says. He leans over Tommy just enough to catch the corner of his mouth with his own before settling in.

“Of course he was,” Tommy mutters. Adam laughs and loops his arm around Tommy’s waist.

“Go to sleep,” Adam says, brushing another kiss across Tommy’s jaw.

 

Tommy doesn’t win the HoH competition – he comes really fucking close, but in the end Sasha wins out.

“Fuck,” Tommy says, practically falling off the surfboard. His legs are practically jelly, so he gives Sasha a hug and collapses onto the ground, breathing onto his knees. After a few minutes, Adam joins him and wraps an arm around his shoulders.

“You did good,” Adam says, rubbing his arm. Tommy leans into him and exhales heavily.

“We’re so screwed,” he says. 

Adam hugs him tighter. “We’ll manage,” he says, and they sit there for a little while more.

 

Sasha nominates Allison and Adam, which isn’t a surprise to anyone, but it still sucks. They don’t mope, though, and on the day of the veto ceremony, by some blind stroke of luck, Tommy’s name gets picked out of the bag to play.

The game involves smashing piñatas to collect letters and spell a word, and Tommy pretty much just starts smashing as fast as he can, ignoring the rotten mayo spilling out. At the nine minute mark, he’s got A-S-T-R-U-O-P-T-U-E-T-I-Q-W. 

For an agonizing twenty seconds the only word he can think of is quitter, so he starts arranging it. 

Prostitute comes to him out of nowhere, so he immediately starts rearranging his letters and finishes with nine seconds to spare.

Everyone waits with bated breath while Brad makes a production out of counting up the letters, and when it comes down to it, Allison has denial, Adam has goldmine, Sasha has frequency, Orianthi has juvenile, and Kris has plaid – which Tommy privately thinks is hilarious.

Tommy kind of just gapes while Brad hangs the veto around his neck, and then Allison’s jumping on him, knocking him back a couple of steps. Adam barrels into him from behind, and all of a sudden he’s in the middle of a crushing bear hug.

He’s won, but now he has to choose which one of his favourite people to save.

It’s probably not gonna be that hard of a choice.

 

They don’t get a chance to talk about it until they’re in bed that night and everyone else in the room is already asleep. It’s Brad and Kris, and they’re both pretty sound sleepers.

“Use it on Allison,” Adam whispers, mouth against his ear. 

Tommy goes completely still. “What?” he asks, a little louder than really necessary.

“Use the veto on Allison,” Adam repeats. He squeezes Tommy around the chest and nuzzles into the back of his neck. “I’ll be fine. If anything, I’ll talk my way into staying. I’m pretty sure we have Brad’s vote, and I can probably talk Kris into voting for whoever Sasha puts up, so that’s four right there, we only need three more.”

“Allison could talk her way into staying too,” Tommy says, staring at the wall in front of him. “Besides, I’m pretty sure this is a discussion we should include her in.”

Adam puts his hand on top of Tommy’s. “It is,” he says. “But I’m telling you right now that my choice would be to have you take her down, and that’s not gonna change if she’s here.”

Tommy closes his eyes. “I’ll think about it,” he says. Adam sighs and kisses the back of his neck, short but open-mouthed.

“I know you will,” he says.

 

Allison pretty much tells him to do whatever he thinks will benefit him most in the end, and during the veto ceremony they both stand up and tell him to pick the other person.

He uses it on Allison. Not necessarily because Adam told him to, but because out of the two of them, Tommy thinks Adam has a better chance of being able to talk himself into staying.

Sasha puts Orianthi up in her place, which surprises him, but it’s not really a bad surprise. They can probably work with that.

He heads outside as soon as the ceremony’s done, though, without waiting for Adam or Allison, because he’s not entirely sure that he wants to talk to either of them right now.

They give him space for all of five minutes before Allison comes out and curls up on the couch beside him. “Thanks,” she says quietly. Tommy shrugs, picking at the nail polish on his thumb.

“You’re welcome,” he says, hugging her briefly.

It doesn’t make him feel any less shitty.

“He’s not gonna go home, you know,” she says, hugging him back. Tommy exhales slowly.

“I hope so,” he answers. 

Allison shakes him a little. “He’s already got four votes in the bag, he’s _got_ this,” she insists.

“We’ll see,” Tommy says, and they sit there for a while before heading to bed. Adam’s in the bathroom when Tommy goes to brush his teeth, and he makes room at the counter.

They brush their teeth in silence, and after he’s rinsed his mouth out, he turns to leave, but Adam’s blocking his way. He wraps his arms around Tommy and hugs him tight for a few minutes.  
“Thanks,” he murmurs against the side of Tommy’s head. Tommy takes a shallow breath and nods. “I know it sucked, but I’m glad you did it.”

“Let’s just go to sleep,” Tommy says, wiggling out of his grasp. He heads back into the bedroom and crawls into the bed, and Adam’s weight sinks the mattress a second later. He puts a hand on Tommy’s shoulder and turns him over, until Tommy’s flat on his back.

“What?” Tommy asks. Adam puts an elbow over his head and kisses him for a few minutes, slow and sweet.

“I know you don’t believe it, but this is going to work,” Adam says when he pulls back. He rolls onto his back and laces his fingers behind his head. Tommy moves back onto his side and closes his eyes.

 

It does work. Tommy’s not entirely sure how, but he sits on the couch beside Allison at the eviction ceremony, their hands clasped together so hard that his knuckles are turning white, and when Julie announces that Orianthi has been evicted, he just clings tighter, unable to let go.

They say their goodbyes to Orianthi, and when she’s gone Adam sweeps him up in a tight hug. “I told you,” he says, right in Tommy’s ear. Tommy clings onto him, relief spreading through him – which is entirely ridiculous. He’s only known Adam for three weeks, and his life does not revolve around the guy.

The thought doesn’t stop the relief. 

 

He wakes up halfway through the night, disoriented. For a minute, he can’t figure out what woke him up. 

Then he registers the slow rocking of Adam’s hips behind him.

He doesn’t do anything for a solid minute. Adam keeps rocking into him, one hand splayed against his stomach, holding him in place, and Tommy can feel the line of his dick pressing against his ass.

He moves the tiniest bit when Adam makes a sound in the back of his throat, and one of those things must wake Adam up, because he stills suddenly. Tommy pushes back before he can think about it, and Adam’s groan is louder.

“Fuck,” he says, moving his hands to Tommy’s hip and holding him still. He moves away a second later, swinging his legs off the bed and sitting up.

“Adam,” Tommy says, peering at his back in the dark. He shuffles over and presses his face into his back, still warm from the blankets. He hesitates for a second before he puts a hand on Adam’s thigh.

Adam grabs it before he can get any higher, though. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” he says quietly. Tommy sits up. “Alone.”

He gets up, and Tommy lies back down, his feet pressed flat against the mattress. He’s hard, but he can’t be bothered to shove a hand down his boxers to take care of it, not when Adam’s gonna come back anyway. Maybe if he’s lucky, Adam’ll take care of him too.

He’s still focused on that thought when Adam climbs back into bed five minutes later. He squirms up against Adam’s side and settles one leg over his. “Yeah, no,” Adam says, laughing, and pushes Tommy off of him.

“Why not?” Tommy asks, dragging his fingertips across Adam’s arm. 

“Allison’s in here, that’s why,” Adam says. He hooks a hand behind Tommy’s head and kisses him briefly before shoving him away. “Go take care of that.”

Tommy gets up and pouts all the way to the bathroom.

 

Brad wins the HoH competition, and after everyone’s seen his room and gone back downstairs, Adam’s nowhere to be found. Tommy looks at Allison and raises an eyebrow, and she nods.

“Huh,” Tommy says, and grabs an apple. He sits outside for a while, sunglasses on and eyes closed, and people come and go, in and out of the house.

He doesn’t pay much attention until someone sits down beside him, and then he opens his eyes. Kris is perched on the edge of the couch, looking like he’s gonna run away if Tommy breathes too heavily.

“Hey,” Tommy says after a minute of silence.

“Hey,” Kris says, nodding. He falls silent again, so Tommy shrugs and closes his eyes. 

They’re both still sitting there when Adam comes out and joins them. “Hey,” Kris says, presumably to Adam. “Good talk with Brad?”  
“Yeah, you know how it is. We talked about make-up and clothes and the best way to find out if your crush is into you,” Adam says. Tommy smiles, head tipped back.

“Did you talk about the best stores to shop in, too?” he asks, opening his eyes. Adam smiles back at him.

“Nah, we’re saving that conversation for next time. It’s gonna take a while.” Beside them, Kris stands up and heads back into the house. Tommy frowns at him and looks back at Adam.

“Weird, right?” he asks. Adam looks in the direction Kris went and shrugs.

“A little, yeah. What did you guys talk about?” He stretches out, and Tommy slides over and leans into him.

“Nothing. He just came and sat down randomly, and then he said all of one word to me.” 

Adam wraps an arm around him. “Maybe he just wanted an excuse to look at you,” he says. Tommy rolls his eyes.

“It was a shitty excuse if he did,” he says. Adam tips his head up with two fingers under his chin. 

“Yeah, let’s stop talking about Kris now and talk about how pretty you are instead,” he says. Tommy makes a face at him.

“Don’t start,” he says. Adam drags one of his legs over his thighs, hands on Tommy’s ass, urging him to climb into his lap.

Tommy does. “You have amazing eyes,” Adam continues, hands on Tommy’s hips. Tommy punches him in the side. “Ouch,” Adam complains. “Are you going to kiss it better now?”

Tommy tips his head forward, offering his mouth. Adam pulls his hips in a little tighter and makes an approving sound. “Not exactly what I was going for, but it works for me,” he murmurs, and then catches Tommy’s mouth with his own.

Tommy opens for Adam’s tongue, letting him lick his way into his mouth. It’s a little strange, how easy it is to let Adam take control. 

But good. It’s also very good.

Until the door opens. “Mm, don’t stop on my account,” Brad says, and Tommy twists a little to look over his shoulder at him.

“You ever feel like we should just make a sex tape for him and get it over with?” Tommy asks, turning back to Adam. 

Adam rubs his hands over Tommy’s sides. “All the time,” he says, and Tommy slides off him, back onto the couch.

 

“So here’s the thing,” Brad says, surveying the three of them. “Technically I’m in another alliance, but I doubt that’s going to last very long.”

“So you want to be in ours?” Adam asks. Brad shakes his head a little.

“No, it’s not really that easy. In _theory_ I want to be in your alliance, but in practice it’d have to be more of a secret, so you could tell me who you want me to put up this week, but it might not happen.”

“And what would you get out of it?” Allison asks.

Brad laughs. “You mean aside from more opportunities to watch Adam and Tommy make out? An alliance that doesn’t go behind each other’s backs fifteen times a day, hopefully.”

Adam eyes him carefully. “Okay, there’s no harm in trying, right?” he asks.

“Right,” Brad agrees, beaming. “So who do you want to see me put up?” 

The three of them look at each other for a while. “Ideally Sasha and Brooke,” Tommy says. “Sasha’s pretty obvious about being a strong competitor, but I think Brooke’s been throwing a few of the competitions to avoid being in the spotlight.”

“Interesting,” Brad says, tapping his face thoughtfully. “I don’t know about putting Sasha up, but I might be able to swing Brooke.”

“Well, if you do it’s a pretty good indication of your willingness to switch alliances,” Adam says, standing up. He offers a hand to both Allison and Tommy, yanking them both up with ease.

“See you later,” Allison calls over her shoulder as Adam pulls them out the door.

 

True to his word, Brad puts up Brooke. He also puts up Taylor, which all three of them can live in, even if it’s not ideal. 

Brooke doesn’t win the veto, and she gets evicted. After that, they’re pretty much on a roll – Cam is the next to go, then Sasha, despite her intense fight, and then Taylor. They don’t even run into any problems until the ninth week and Katy wins HoH.

She puts Adam and Tommy up for eviction, and it’s the first real attempt to split them up. They wait impatiently for the competition, huddled together, and the best case scenario is that Allison wins and uses it to take one of them down.

The competition is pretty much a counting game, and when Tommy joins Adam on the sidelines, their hopes are left with Brad and Allison, still up. 

Brad wins in the end. Tommy hugs Allison, and Adam tells her that she did great, but Tommy’s pretty sure that they’re both thinking the same thing – they’re screwed.

 

They hold hands at the veto ceremony, as ridiculous as Tommy thinks it must look. But Adam just sort of grabbed onto him, and he doesn’t have the inclination to pull away.

They stand up one by one and say that Brad doesn’t have to use it on them, and Brad nods his understanding.

And uses it on Adam anyway. Tommy sits there, eyes wide, while Katy gets up and puts Monte up instead.

People start wandering away pretty fast, and Tommy just stays there while Brad perches on the arm of the chair. “I wish I could have used it on both of you,” Brad says, petting Tommy’s hair.

Tommy shakes his head a little, dislodging Brad’s hand. “Yeah, I know,” he says. “I just – really didn’t expect you to use it at all.” 

“Yeah, well, I figured it’s time to really pick my side,” Brad says, sighing a little. “At least I proved myself, right?”

“Yeah,” Tommy says, “but why did Katy put up Monte instead of Allison?” 

Brad shrugs. “Girl power?” he suggests. Adam appears in front of him then and hauls him out of the chair, wrapping his arms around him.

“This is great news,” he says into Tommy’s ear. “There is no way you’re going home this week, you’ve got three votes for sure.”

“Yeah,” Tommy agrees, but he’s still wondering why Katy didn’t put Allison up. It just doesn’t make sense.

 

Monte does go home, not that it was even really a fight with Allison, Adam, and Brad all voting for him.

During the HoH competition, it comes down to Kris and Tommy, and Tommy’s totally not going to let him win, so he pulls something out of somewhere and manages to win.

It’s an awesome feeling.

 

“Fuck,” Tommy says, wriggling through the mud. It’s a lot fucking harder than it looks, and the fact that Adam keeps grabbing his ankle and trying to pull him back isn’t helping. “Would you fucking quit it?” he demands. 

“Oh, baby, we’re on different teams now, and I want to get out of this house for a few hours,” Adam answers, yanking him back a couple of inches. Tommy makes a frustrated sound and flips over, narrowly avoiding kicking Adam in the face.

“Fine,” Tommy huffs, waving a hand over his head. “Go on, then.” Adam starts moving, and Tommy tugs him down when their heads get level.

“Mm, I approve of this plan,” Adam says, curling a hand around Tommy’s jaw. He kisses him, and Tommy shoves a hand in between them and gropes at Adam’s dick. There’s catcalling coming from behind them, and it gets louder when Adam’s mouth slides down his jaw to his neck.

Adam’s hips push into his hand, and Tommy spends about thirty seconds basically giving him a hand job over his pants before he stops and leaves his hand resting on the bulge there. “Adam,” he says.

“Yeah, baby,” Adam says, mouthing his way back up Tommy’s jaw.

Tommy turns his head a little and breathes, “if you pull me back one more time I’m never going to touch your dick again,” right into his mouth. He slaps Adam on the stomach once and wiggles out from under him.

He wins by a full thirty seconds.

 

When they get back from the movie screening, Adam’s asleep in the HoH room, and Tommy pauses at the door, shaking his head at the way Adam sprawls out over the entire bed. There’s almost no room for him on there, which is kind of shitty, considering that he’s the reason Adam’s even sleeping in it.

He gets over it, though, and strips down to his boxers and t-shirt before climbing into the bed. Adam wakes up and moves over just enough for him to fit comfortably, tucking an arm around his back.

“How was the movie?” he murmurs, sliding his hand underneath Tommy’s shirt. Tommy arches his back, letting Adam rub at his skin.

“Terrible. It’s supposed to be a comedy, right, but it wasn’t funny like, at all, I don’t know what people were thinking when they wrote it,” Tommy says. Adam’s hand stills on his back, and he laughs softly.  
“So you had a lot to drink, then?” he asks. Tommy curls into him, sliding his leg over Adam’s.

“I had a little,” he admits cheerfully. He nuzzles into Adam’s shoulder, pushing his shirt out of the way.

“Yeah, okay,” Adam says, his tone making it clear that he doesn’t believe him, and for a second Tommy considers pouting, because _that_ might convince him, but then he pulls Tommy on top of him.

Tommy makes a pleased sound and wiggles a little, finding a more comfortable position. Adam groans, hands settling on Tommy’s hips. “You’re the squirmiest person I’ve ever met, you know that?” he asks, a little breathless.

Tommy smiles and wiggles again. He opens his mouth to answer, but Adam reaches up and pulls him down with two fingers in the neck of his shirt.

Tommy takes the hint and kisses him, mouth a little askew. Adam laughs into his mouth and moves his head, biting his bottom lip gently. Tommy shivers, a full body movement that presses him down onto Adam’s body.

And subsequently, Adam’s dick. 

Adam breaks the kiss to swear and grind up into Tommy’s body. “You’re so slutty when you’re drunk,” he says, sucking on Tommy’s bottom lip briefly.

“’m pretty slutty when I’m not drunk,” Tommy says. He can feel Adam’s dick pressing into him, hard and wanting, and settles his palm over it between their bodies.

“Never really noticed,” Adam says, fumbling his own hand down to cover Tommy’s. He pretty much just holds it there, and they make out for a little bit more, but whenever Tommy goes to move his hand, Adam stills it.

Tommy goes to pull back, but it takes a couple of false starts – Adam keeps biting him whenever he does. “What are you doing?” he asks when he finally manages.

Adam frowns at him. “What do you mean?”

“You always do this,” Tommy says, frustrated, and sits up. Adam’s hand flops down to his side.

“Do what?” Adam asks, voice tinged with impatience. Tommy shoves his hair out of his face irritably.

“You start things and then never let it go anywhere,” Tommy says. He plants a knee in the mattress and starts to push himself up.

Adam grabs him by the thigh, practically wrapping his entire hand around it. Tommy looks down at it and tries not to shiver. “Where exactly do you think it would go?” he asks. Tommy tries pulling out of his grasp, only to feel the grip tighten.

Tommy ignores it and rolls his eyes. “I don’t know, maybe to sex,” he says, aiming for sarcastic. He’s pretty sure that he succeeds, but Adam’s face just gets incredulous. 

“And how exactly were you planning on that happening? I don’t have anything, and if you do, you’ve got it pretty well hidden.” 

Tommy bites his lip and tries not to let it show on his face that he never thought about it like that. It doesn’t work. “I would,” Adam says, letting go of his thigh to grab his chin. “Baby, I would have sex with you in a _heartbeat_ if I could, but without condoms or lube it’s just not happening.”

“We can get condoms,” Tommy mumbles. Adam arches an eyebrow at him. “I’m pretty sure Kris brought some,” he says. 

Adam’s eyebrow rises even higher. “Ignoring the obvious fact that they’re not going to fit me, you would know this how?”

Tommy shrugs defensively. “They spilled out of his bag when he was unpacking his stuff. He turned bright red for like an hour.” 

Adam studies him for a minute before sitting up, almost dislodging Tommy from his hips. “You really want it that bad?” he asks. Tommy turns his face, examining the wall behind the headboard. 

“I’m just saying, there are ways,” Tommy says, and he’s proud of the way his voice doesn’t waver.

“There are,” Adam agrees, and he tips Tommy’s head towards him to kiss him again. “Let me show you one of them,” he murmurs, and something in Tommy is hardwired to respond to him when he uses that tone, so when he flips them, Tommy just _goes_.

Somehow he ends up spread out naked on his stomach with Adam all over his back, equally naked. “It’s not what you want,” Adam says into his ear, “but it’s what I can give you.” 

Tommy clenches his hands in the bedspread and moans when Adam shoves his thighs tighter together. He knows where this is going, and most of him is all for it.  
Some of him still wants to be fucked, though.

He loses his train of thought when Adam slides his dick in between his thighs. His thrusts are slow and sure, and only drag a little bit – their combined sweat makes it a lot easier.

Adam’s dick feels big between his legs, big and hard and hot and Tommy likes this just fine. “You really _did_ want this,” Adam says, and he sounds kind of amazed. Tommy twists his head a little, leaving his mouth open to Adam’s kiss.

“Did you think I was lying?” he asks when Adam abandons his mouth in favour of his jaw. 

“No, just,” he thrusts again, dragging against the skin behind Tommy’s balls, “wanting something is different from _wanting_ something, you know?”

“Yeah,” Tommy says, but it comes out kind of choked, because Adam chooses then to wrap his big hand around Tommy’s dick. “Oh,” he says, embarrassingly breathy, and he would care about that, but he’s too busy coming.

“Nice,” Adam murmurs, and thrusts a couple more times before he’s coming, too.

He moves off of Tommy after a couple of minutes. “Told you there’re ways,” Tommy mumbles, burying his face in the pillows. 

“You’re lying in the wet spot,” Adam says, fitting both of his hands under Tommy’s hips and pulling him over. 

Tommy makes a sound that’s almost a laugh. “Pretty sure it doesn’t matter. I’m covered in come anyway,” he says. Adam kisses him behind the ear and pulls the blankets up.

“That’s gonna be a pretty sight to see without three cameras watching us,” Adam says, which reminds Tommy that he just spread for Adam completely naked with cameras on them.

Well. It’s not like CBS is gonna air that.

 

“Jesus, I’m so sorry,” Tommy says, slamming the door closed. He stumbles away, rubbing a hand over his face, and practically walks into Adam.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Adam asks, steadying him with hands on his elbows. Tommy laughs, shaking his head.

“I told you Kris was hiding something,” he says. Adam raises an eyebrow at him. “Him and Katy,” Tommy explains.

The other eyebrow joins the first. “Him and Katy, like _him and Katy_?” Adam asks. Tommy nods. Adam laughs, pulling Tommy towards the stairs. “I’m sorry I doubted you,” he says. “But at least it makes your nominations make more sense.”

 

Obviously he puts up Kris and Katy, and when Kris wins the veto, everyone’s expecting him to use it on himself.

He uses it on Katy. Tommy doesn’t really have a choice – he puts Brad up, and it’s not like Brad’s gonna go home anyway. 

They don’t really understand why Kris didn’t save himself until he gets evicted and Katy clings to him at the door. They pretty much spend the entire minute kissing, and when they break apart, Katy goes, “I’ll see you at home,” all quiet – like she didn’t think they were going to hear her.

“Well, that explains that,” Adam says, staring at her retreating back.

 

Allison wins the HoH competition and puts Kris and Brad up for eviction. Adam wins the veto competition, leaves her nominations the way they are, and Kris goes home. 

Brad wins the next HoH competition and puts up Allison and Adam. He wins the veto competition as well and leaves his nominations the same.

Tommy votes Allison out of the house. It’s a hard decision, but ultimately Adam’s the reason that either of them made it this far, and he can’t betray him now.

It still feels like he’s betraying Allison though, despite her extra long hug at the door and her assurances that he did the right thing.

Adam hugs him for a long time on the couch, and they both watch the door like they’re expecting her to bound back in at any minute.

 

Adam wins the final HoH competition, and the finality of it really sinks in that night when they spend three hours curled up together, staring at each other in the dark before they finally fall asleep.  
“Hey,” Tommy says, turning his head when Brad walks into the room. 

“Where’s your better half?” he asks, looking around. “Did you finally shake him?”

Tommy holds his hand up to the light and examines the coat of nail polish he just put on. “I’m pretty sure I’m actually his better half,” he says, and blows on them for a couple seconds to dry them. “And I don’t know where he is, maybe in the pool or something.”

“Good, he’s not around, then,” Brad says, sitting down next to Tommy. “Now spill, how great is the sex?”

Tommy laughs, touching his thumb nail gently. His finger comes away clean, so he picks up the bottle again. “There’s no sex to spill about,” he says. Brad’s silent for long enough that Tommy looks up at him, the question on the tip of his tongue, and catches him staring at him, mouth actually open.

“What?” he asks. Brad frowns at him.

“You’re kidding me, right?” he demands. “There’s no way you haven’t been getting some, not with the way that he looks at you.”

Tommy starts on his other hand. “How does he look at me?” he asks, ready to laugh off Brad’s answer, because it will undoubtedly be something dirty. 

“Like you’re the reason he gets up in the morning,” Brad says quietly. “Listen, I know I come off as a huge drama queen, and believe me when I say I don’t want to interfere, but I think that the two of you might be at entirely different stages in your relationship.”

“Oh, yeah? And what stages are those, exactly?” Tommy asks, twisting the cap back onto the bottle.

Brad smiles, but it’s a little sad. “He’s at the stage where he wants to watch you walk down the aisle to him, and you’re still trying to decide whether you want to let him put a hand up your skirt.”

Tommy rolls his eyes. “And you know this how?” he asks. 

“Sweetheart, when I said that he looks at you like you’re the reason he gets up in the morning, I wasn’t kidding. He wears his heart on his sleeve, it’s really not that hard to figure out.” Brad gets up, patting Tommy’s knee, and leaves, shaking his head.

Tommy sits there for an hour before he feels like he can move.

 

He finds Adam sprawled out on the couch outside, staring up at the sky. He ends up standing in front of him, hands tucked into the pocket of his hoodie, and he’s not entirely sure how.

“Hey,” Adam says, smiling up at him. “You wanna sit?” He pats the cushion next to him, and Tommy shakes his head slowly.

“Brad says that you look at me like I’m the reason you get up in the morning,” Tommy says.

Adam holds a hand out to him. “Brad says a lot of things,” he says easily. Tommy looks at his hand and swallows.

“He also said that you’re at the stage where you want to watch me walk down the aisle to you,” he says quietly. Adam’s hand drops.

“Oh,” he says. Tommy nods jerkily. He stands there in silence for a minute before Adam holds out his hand again. “C’mere,” he says softly. Tommy hesitates for a second before he takes it and crumples down beside him.

Adam tugs him into his arms and Tommy takes a shuddering breath, closing his eyes against Adam’s shoulder. “I was really trying not to freak you out,” he says, combing his fingers through Tommy’s hair.

“But,” Tommy says.

“But Brad’s more perceptive than people realize,” Adam says. He takes his hand out of Tommy’s hair and rubs his fingers against the back of his neck. “I can go upstairs if you want,” he offers. 

Tommy shakes his head. “No. I just.” 

“Okay,” Adam says, tucking Tommy in a little closer, and they sit there for a while.

 

Brad wins the veto competition, and Tommy gets evicted. Brad hugs him goodbye in the living room, and doesn’t follow to the door. Adam kisses him at the door, both hands holding his face, and says something into his mouth that he doesn’t catch before he’s leaving.

His talk with Julie floats by, and when he walks into the jury house, Allison takes one look at him and hustles him somewhere private.

He doesn’t cry, but it’s a near thing, especially when Allison hugs him for at least three minutes.  
They watch Brad’s final clip about why they should vote for him, and then Adam’s comes on. 

“Hey, everyone,” he says, smiling at the camera. “I know that I’m supposed to use this time to try to convince you guys to give me the money, but I have something that I really need to say instead.”

Tommy stares at screen with a vague feeling of trepidation. “It’s kind of cowardly, considering that he’s not even here anymore and he can’t punch me in the face for this, but Brad was right.” 

Beside him, Allison makes a sound that’s halfway between a laugh and a gasp. “I want to watch you walk down the aisle to me,” Adam says, lacing his fingers together on his lap. “I want to drag Brad to a jewelry store and make him help me pick out a ring. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I get that you’re not ready for that, I do, but it feels like a lie if I don’t say it.

“So I guess this is me saying it,” he finishes. Tommy’s still staring at the screen when it goes blank, but he can tell everyone’s looking at him.

“If anyone says anything I’m probably going to cry,” he says eventually. Allison puts her arms around him, and he leans into her gratefully.

 

Adam wins, and he’s getting hugs all around, but he’s looking at Tommy the entire time. Tommy tries not to look back and hugs Brad for a long time, knowing that as soon as he lets go he’s going to have to face Adam.

He eventually lets go, and Adam’s behind him when he turns around, crooked, uncertain smile on his face and hands in his pockets.

“Hey,” he says softly. 

Tommy looks at him for a couple minutes, taking him in live and in colour for the first time in a week. He’s painfully aware of the cameras still on them, but he’s had an entire week to think about this. “If you propose to me anytime within the next two years I’m gonna be obligated to punch you in the face,” he says unevenly.

Adam closes the space between them in one giant step. “Fuck,” he says, actually lifting Tommy off the ground. He kisses him, laughing and mostly missing his mouth. Tommy links his hands behind Adam’s neck and adjusts them, so that their mouths actually meet, figuring what the hell, it’s not like this show hasn’t seen worse.

There’s a burst of sound from behind them – the crowd cheering, mostly. Tommy hangs there, supported by Adam’s hands on his waist, and kisses back.

By the time Adam sets him back on his feet, people have mostly stopped cheering, and Julie’s talking to Brad. “So what are you doing for the rest of your life?” Adam asks, big hands cupping Tommy’s face.

Tommy shrugs. “I was thinking about joining the circus,” he says nonchalantly. Adam laughs, knocking their foreheads together.

“Guess I’m gonna have to clear my schedule, then,” he says, and kisses him again.


End file.
